Wasted True Potential
Wasted True Potential is the first episode (the first segment of the first episode) of Season 11: Rainbow Roadtrip, and the 166th episode overall of LEGO Ninjago & My Little Pony: Masters of Friendship. Notably, this is the final season premiere to not be a two-part episode, after "The Ticket Master", "Lesson Zero", "The Surge", "The Hands of Time" and "Firstbourne". The name of the episode is a pun on the term "wasted potential". It is paired up with “Questing for Quests”. In the wake of their previous victory, the Ninja and the Mane Six gone soft and Master Wu and Princess Celestia must remind them of who they truly are. Production It was originally scheduled to be released in Canada on May 11, 2019, but was removed. A trailer featuring incomplete animation not meant for public viewing was mistakenly released by Teletoon on April 30, 2019, but was taken down shortly after. Plot One Summer Day at the Time On the beginning of Summer Vacation in both Ninjago City and Equestria, Zane was asleep as he wakes up in his vision to be confronted by Aspheera and is ultimately knocked out. In a dreamlike state, Zane foresees the Pyro Vipers attacking both Ninjago City and Equestria, the Ice Emperor and his daughter, Princess Snowblossom in the Never-Realm, the Dazzlings (Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk) use their power to drain all the color in Equestria and the Ice Dragon freezing an entire village that includes Jay and Pinkie Pie being affected. When Zane wakes up, he finds Jay, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are next to his bed. Zane attempts to tell them about his vision, but they all laugh about it, thinking it was a nightmare. Jay is not in moved by Zane’s last visions coming in true and instead shifts the conversation to Cole and Applejack who is about to beat Zane's record in "Lava Zombies." Meanwhile, back in the game room, Cole and Applejack are watched by Kai, Nya, Lloyd, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Spike who all see Cole and Applejack beat Zane's record. Once Jay, Zane, Fluttershy and Pinkie arrive, the Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike realized they have spent too much time with video games and decide to relax in a hot tub. As the Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike relax in their hot tub, they spot an angry Master Wu and Princess Celestia who criticize them for being lazy once again, especially since their hot tub was made out of a sacred bell. The Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike attempt to come up with excuses, but this makes Wu and Celestia even more upset and demand a meeting at the Castle of Friendship. A Laid-back Excuse Inside the castle, Wu and Celestia continue to criticize the Ninja and the Mane Six of their laziness and tell a story of monks who eventually became Ninjas, and the unicorn ponies turn into royal guards of Canterlot. In the process of becoming a Ninja, the monks and the unicorn ponies had to pass a test which involved withstanding some time with a chicken. Wu and Celestia did the same thing for the Ninja and the Mane Six in order for them to prove their courage. Once the chicken was released, it attacked the Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike using its lighting power. The Ninja and the Mane Six were able to trap the chicken, but Wu and Celestia warned them of upcoming plans to prove their courage and devotion. As the day proceed, the Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike were utterly unable to see through traps Wu and Celestia had set including trap doors, darts, levitation spells and being stuck on top of the monastery. By the next day, the Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike were tired and humiliated by how Wu and Celestia had completely eluded them with the traps and decide to compromise with Wu and Celestia to see if there are other ways to prove their courage and devotion. A Test for Courage The Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike find Wu and Celestia in the courtyards and ask if there are other ways to prove their courage and devotion. Wu and Celestia decide to make an exception and allow the Ninja and the Mane Six to fight them. Despite they were being outnumbered, they still soundly defeated all the Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike due to their lack of training and studies over the past month with pure skill despite their usage of their powers and their magic. Wu and Celestia then unleash their chicken upon the Ninja, the Mane Six and Spike to punish them for failure as they realize the truth of their words and they scream as they were electrocuted. Cast *Aspheera - Pauline Newstone *Applejack - Ashleigh Ball *Cole - Kirby Morrow *Fluttershy - Andrea Libman *Jay - Michael Adamthwaite *Kai - Vincent Tong *Nya - Kelly Metzger *Pinkie Pie - Andrea Libman *Princess Celestia - Nicole Oliver *Rarity - Tabitha St. Germain *Rainbow Dash - Ashleigh Ball *Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent *Twilight Sparkle - Tara Strong *Spike - Cathy Weseluck *Wu - Paul Dobson *Zane - Brent Miller Song *I’m on a Yacht (partially) Transcript *Wasted True Potential (transcript) Trivia *This is the first episode in the season to be done by Boulder Media Limited in Ireland, instead of DHX Media in Vancouver. *This is the first episode since "The Shadow Play" where Wu reads the title card. **This is also the only episode of Season 11 where Wu narrates the title card. *The episode has a lot in common with "The Ticket Master" where the Ninja show signs of laziness. *Wu and Celestia mention the Invasion of Grogar, the Oni, and the Legion of Doom was months ago, showing a significant amount of time has passed. **This means that this invasion takes place in Spring, as the season in this episode is Summer. *This is the first episode to be animated in the modern flash animation style. **The animators have now use the same animation style as LEGO Ninjago & My Little Pony: The Movie. **Also, The LEGO Ninjago Movie designs kept the same and the animation style is mixed Stopmotion with CGI animation. **This episode also uses the comic-style backgrounds in some scenes, just like when Wu said “It’s not a Hot Tub!”, it uses the red background. *Zane sees a vision of Aspheera and her Pyro Snakes as well as the Ice Emperor and Princess Snowblossom in the Never-Realm. He also sees the vision of the Dazzlings and Daybreaker destroying Equestria. **This is a foreshadowing of the enemy the Ninja and the Mane Six will face. **This marks the first appearance of Aspheera in the series. **This also foreshadows a scene in "Razzle Dazzle", "The Secret of Friendship" and "Shine Like Rainbows" as the Dazzlings and Zane are fighting for the Rainbow Generator, until it broke, causing Ninjago and Equestria to lose color and Boreal freezing the Great Lake and Hope Hollow. *Zane mentions to Jay, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy that his visions always come true, even listing examples such as the Titanium Dragon and the Green Ninja. *Every time Wu land a blow on the Ninja, he says fail similar to a scene in "The Mare in the Moon" to how Kai fail his training. **Also, Celestia said “You fail the test” to the Mane Six, which is similar to “The Core of the Crystal Empire - Part 1, when she said to Twilight about failing the test. *When Cole was winning the Lava Zombies game, it said "You Win!" in Ninjago language, which is similar to how a player wins the dojo with the "You Win!" card in The LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame. **On the top right corner, it said “SCORE: 09999” in Ninjago language. *This is the third episode to start with one of Zane's dreams. The first two being were "Boast Busters" and "Rarity Takes Manehatten". *This episode, along with "Questing for Quests" was aired after “Ninja Takeover” marathon, which started on June 11, 2019, with all the episodes of Ninjago, including the Pilot Episodes, Day of the Departed and Season 10: March of the Oni. *This episode continues the trend of season premieres not having an intro sequence that was started by "Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1" and broken by "The Beginning of the End: The Darkness Comes." *The Ice Emperor appears in this episode but doesn't speak. Errors *As Twilight Sparkle was using a computer, her horn was at the top, instead of the front of the forehead. *When Lloyd jumps onto the roof to face Wu with his golden sword, his shoulder armor can be seen for a brief moment before its gone again.